Finding the Purple Positive

 I keep having to remind myself in those moments when I'm blanking on information I can easily find but don't have stored at the tip of my tongue that my strength and my intelligence is a different KIND than a lot of people's: I'm a critical thinker, a problem solver. I can find information and put 2 and 2 together and make sense where there was no sense. THAT is how I am smart. I'm not an information all stored in my head, remember all formulas from every math class ever type of smart. I have struggled with this my whole life. Feeling really intelligent one moment, then not remembering details and my ego deflating. Smartness, in my mind, has always been associated with those people who know formulas off-hand and can just spout complex detailed stuff, but that's just not how my brain works. And, believe me, I've tried to make it work that way. But what I'm finally learning about myself is that I can rebuild awareness pretty easily and have the ability to...

 Don't you just love it when somebody brings a baby into the office/family function/church/whatever? And everybody coos and makes funny faces and loves on him or her and takes turns holding the baby? Wait. Hold on. Flag on the play. I've got a problem with that last part. I am not a baby holder. It's not that I have anything against babies. Babies are the most adorable things on the planet and are right up there with fluffy kittens, but please don't put one in my lap. I don't mind holding one if you need  me to. I am a responsible, loving adult who will take care of your child if the need arises. But I will NOT be doing the following: throwing it in the air (not even once, let alone the multiple times people tend to) swinging it around to make it laugh bringing it back and forth close to my face; again, to make it laugh placing it in the burping position bouncing it like a horsey or any other rousing, energetic play I know the value of human life, and while the chil...